{"id":751208,"date":"2026-08-27T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/751208\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T08:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:28:10","slug":"ghent-professors-challenged-expertise-of-jason-ardays-plagiarism-accuser-jason-arday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/751208\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghent professors challenged expertise of Jason Arday\u2019s plagiarism accuser | Jason Arday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathan Cofnas, the academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism<\/a>, has been accused of having \u201cvery limited expertise\u201d for his academic role by professors also working at Ghent University, who say he has a \u201cfar-right agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cofnas secured a postdoctoral research role \u201con the future of liberalism\u201d at Belgium\u2019s Ghent University in March. Weeks later, Ghent\u2019s department of philosophy and moral sciences handed a 19-page statement to university officials, setting out why it believed it was \u201cimprobable\u201d that Cofnas was the best candidate.<\/p>\n

Jason Arday, the University of Cambridge<\/a> sociology professor, was found dead on 14 August after weeks of intense media scrutiny of his professional and personal achievements following Cofnas\u2019s allegations against him of plagiarism, which have not been formally proven.<\/p>\n

Allegations that Cofnas was not qualified for his research role and would cause a \u201cnegative impact\u201d by promoting racial pseudoscience were made to university leaders months before Arday died, the Guardian understands.<\/p>\n

A photograph of Jason Arday amid floral tributes outside Senate House in Cambridge. Photograph: Chris Radburn\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n

Cofnas\u2019s online activity promotes pseudoscientific ideas of racial difference between Jews and non-Jews and Black and white people. In 2023 he wrote on X: \u201cThere are obviously personality differences between Jews and non-Jews \u2026 On average, Jews are better than gentiles at capitalising on their [general intelligence].\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement sent to the university\u2019s rector on 28 May, Ghent\u2019s philosophy department said: \u201cWe find it very improbable that Nathan Cofnas was the best out of 14 candidates \u2026 We observe only very limited expertise regarding the subjects that are central to the project: political philosophy, liberalism and demography.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe formulated requirement in the job posting of a \u2018strong research interest in liberalism\u2019 is not borne out by Cofnas\u2019 publication record or the rest of his CV.\u201d<\/p>\n

Academics alleged there had been a lack of transparency around the appointment of Cofnas and that \u201ca large majority\u201d suspected he had been \u201can ideological choice \u2026 decided in advance\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the statement to Ghent\u2019s rector and the faculty dean, which the philosophy department\u2019s council approved as its \u201cofficial position\u201d on 27 May, academics said: \u201cCofnas himself has never conducted research on intelligence, nor is such research envisaged within the project for which he was hired.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cThe views he disseminates [in blogposts] are not based on his own scientific research \u2026 [and] simply not based on sound research.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement followed an email sent in March to university leaders and governors, signed by 48 department staff, 73 students and 367 academics from Ghent and other universities expressing \u201castonishment and indignation\u201d at Cofnas\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Ghent University said they did not comment on \u201cthe specific details of the disciplinary case or the underlying arguments\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last week, the university said it had suspended Cofnas<\/a> pending a \u201cpreliminary investigation\u201d. The university did not say whether the suspension was over allegations related to Cofnas\u2019s appointment. In a joint statement confirming the suspension, Ghent\u2019s rector, Petra De Sutter, and vice-rector, Herwig Reynaert, said: \u201cWe attach great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial. However, that freedom is not unlimited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes hand in hand with responsibility and may be restricted in order to protect the rights of others. The university takes the recent public statements made by a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University regarding this matter very seriously. Ghent University has decided to take appropriate action within its powers and the applicable framework.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an April 2023<\/a> Substack post titled \u201cHow to take back academia\u201d, Cofnas outlined ways to \u201cremove\u201d academics he described as \u201cwokesters\u201d by \u201cshowing that they don\u2019t satisfy minimal criteria\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to allegations of plagiarism, Arday, whose treatment has been described as a \u201cracist feeding frenzy\u201d<\/a>, admitted \u201cmistakes\u201d, but said he had faced unacceptable cruelty.<\/p>\n

A source said: \u201cJason was the most gentle, generous, encouraging person. He wanted to bring communities into the academic space. He was working constantly for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than \u00a3224,000 has been raised for a fund set up by the cultural historian Sir Patrick Vernon to help support Arday\u2019s grieving family. In a statement they said they were \u201cdeeply moved\u201d, adding: \u201cThe response to this appeal reflects the number of people whose lives were touched by our beloved Jason and the affection, respect and admiration in which he was held.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the allegations over his appointment, Cofnas said: \u201cMy academic qualifications are a matter of public record.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe silliest accusation is that I am \u2018uninterested in the academic exchange of ideas\u2019. The people who said this are trying to get me fired or even thrown in jail for expressing my ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Cofnas, the academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism, has been accused of having \u201cvery limited expertise\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-751208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}